A MANIFESTO FOR A RHYTHM POLITICS

A study on how to take control of the demands of modern life through the lens of rhythm.

We live in a world increasingly saturated—with signs, norms, objects, and demands—and that overstimulation contributes to our daily sense of alienation. In this manifesto, the authors argue that the path to emancipation lies in our capacity to reclaim political agency over our rhythms, both individual and collective.

A Manifesto for a Rhythm Politics explores the fundamentally spatial and territorial dimensions of time, as well as the temporal dynamics of spatial forms, to sketch the contours of a rhythmology. Rather than simply opposing fullness to emptiness, slowness to acceleration, or overwork to boredom, they invite us to reflect on what enables us to breathe and what awakens our desire. By returning to the original meaning of rhythm—a way of flowing—the book offers a dynamic understanding of societies. It allows us to bridge measurement and lived experience, and to recognize the role of spontaneity, randomness, disorganization, and disorder alongside regularity.

On a practical level, rhythm provides tools to address diverse issues such as traffic congestion, personal burnout, and the management of crowds. Ultimately, a politics of rhythm advocates for a choreographic approach to emancipation—one that embraces different ways of living while composing a shared world.

Manola Antonioli is a senior lecturer in aesthetics (architecture). She is currently professor of philosophy at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Paris la Villette and a researcher at UMR LAVUE7218 CNRS. Her most recent publications include: Biomimétisme. Sciences, design et architecture, Machines de guerres urbaines, Paysage variations (with Vincent Jacques and Alain Milon), and Théories et pratiques écologiques.

Guillaume Drevon is a researcher at the Urban Sociology Laboratory of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne.

Luca Pattaroni is professor at the Laboratory of Urban Sociology (LaSUR) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. He is a member of the editorial boards of the Swiss Journal of Sociology and Articulo, Journal of Urban Research, and Swiss correspondent for Métropolitiques. 

Vincent Kaufmann is professor of urban sociology and mobility analysis at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. He heads the urban sociology laboratory, LaSUR. Since 2010, he has also been scientific director of the Forum Vies Mobiles in Paris. His publications include Retoursur la ville and Mobilité et libre circulation en Europe.